village of Langemarck, from which place he expected to be able again to pick up the track which had to be followed. Unfortunately, the road on the side of the Steenbeck had been so churned up by shell fire that only very slow progress was possible; in fact, one stretch of twenty yards was thigh deep in a stiff porridge-like mud, which, for men loaded with Lewis guns and large supplies of ammunition, was extremely difficult to negotiate. It was a time of considerable anxiety, because the barrage was still proceeding about 300 yards south-east, and might come back at any moment, in which case the casualties could not fail to be heavy. However, good luck prevailed, and the tail end of the battalion had just got clear of the road before the bombardment lifted back on the section we had quitted. [Illustration: In front of Langemarck. 2/6th The King's (Liverpool Regiment) _To face Page 140._] Eagle Trench was reached and found to contain a good deal of gas, so all ranks had to be continually on the alert to adjust their box-respirators during the remainder of the night. Battalion Headquarters was established in an old German concrete pill-box, called "Double Cotts," in which the stench was almost unbearable. On the following night (November 28th-29th), we relieved the battalion in the front line and took over their positions, which consisted of a series of shell-holes, order of companies from right to left being as follows: "A" Company (Captain McWilliam), "B" Company less one platoon (Lieutenant Penrice), "C" Company plus one platoon of "B" Company (Captain Ormrod); support company, "D" Company (Captain Fell). Battalion Headquarters in a German pill-box called Louis Farm. About half-way between front line companies and Battalion Headquarters, on an almost imperceptible rise of ground, called "19 Metre Hill," a transmitting station for lamp signals and also a relay post for runners were established.